Thursday, September 18, 2014

Published 10:01 AM by

Blue Origin will develop a rocket engine with ULA

Blue Origin will develop a rocket engine with ULA


company Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has signed a major partnership agreement with United Launch Alliance on the joint development of a new rocket engine for rockets Atlas and Delta. The company United Launch Alliance is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. This is the BE-4 engine as developed by Blue Origin engaged in more than three years. Now the engine is tested in the company's development center in Texas. Recall that the ULA has contracts with the Ministry of Defense United States regarding the supply of rockets to launch military and government satellites.

 In a joint statement, the parties said that cooperation in the development of the engine will quickly complete its output to a commercial operation. The agreement provides for co-operation for 4 years from the start of testing in 2016 at the real launch vehicles and the first commercial flight in 2019. Recall that in recent years in the United States are increasingly talking about the development of "home" space technology: manned aircraft for ISS, own rocket engines, new types of rocket fuel, starting systems. Particularly active in such conversations began to take place against the background of the situation around Ukraine, which has led to a worsening of Russian-American relations. 

After the introduction of a succession of American sanctions against Russian companies and sectors of the economy, the United States itself were partly based on a number of Russian developments. Experts say that the situation with Ukraine has been a catalyst in the United States, while the first of the "depending on the Russian" in the United States started talking to 2011, simultaneously with the winding down of space shuttle flights. now NASA actually have no choice but to work with the Russian Space Agency at least 2017 for manned flight programs. After 2017, NASA hopes to use as vehicles for the development of near-Earth Flight Boeing and SpaceX.

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Published 9:57 AM by

Fly launches Windows-budget smartphone

Fly launches Windows-budget smartphone

Manufacturer budget smartphones Fly presented today its first device based on Windows Phone 8.1. Novelty is equipped with quad-core productive Qualcomm Snapdragon, supports 2 SIM cards, and is one of the most affordable smartphones to Windows Phone 8 in Russia: its price is only 3,990 rubles. The new smartphone is powered by a 4-core Qualcomm Snapdragon chip with 1.2 GHz, 512 MB ​​of RAM. 

Since the solution is a low cost, the amount of internal memory is limited to only 4 GB. Smartphone supports memory cards microSDHC, that allows you to expand the storage capacity by another 32 GB. Size smartphone is 125,5h65h10,7 mm. smartphone screen at 4 inches with a resolution of 480x800 pixels (IPS technology). 

Fly ERA Windows supports the major wireless standards: 3G-Internet and Wi-Fi to surf the Web, as well as a Bluetooth module to interface with other devices such as a wireless headset or car system hands-free. Surfing the web and mobile communications provides a battery capacity of 1500 mA / h. 


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Published 9:51 AM by

Amazon has shown a new generation of Kindle devices

Amazon has shown a new generation of Kindle devices


Amazon today presented five new models of tablet Kindle, including models for the children, everyday use, the reader, as well as solutions for office workers. New plates are made ​​in the traditional format for Amazon: tablet itself is worth at a minimum, but it is tightly bound to the services Amazon, most of which are paid. New 99-dollar Kindle Fire HD, which Amazon describes as "the most powerful tablet in the price range up to $ 100 ", was presented with 149-dollar Kids Edition, which Amazon promises to replace, even if the child broke the plate. 

Online retailer also showed new models focused on reading electronic books, such as the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX for $ 349. The new version of the tablet is paired with the software to work on office documents. Updated Tablets - is part of the company's investment in new directions, such as the recently featured smartphone Fire, as well as Web services. Analysts point out that last year the company had revenues of $ 74.5 billion dollars, while net profit amounted to 274 million dollars, which is less than 0.5% of revenues, as a significant portion of the proceeds Amazon aims to increase activity. 

New Model Kindle were presented just two days before the start of sales of the new iPhone 6. Also last week, Amazon lowered the price of smartphones Fire to 99 cents with a two year contract with the American mobile operator AT & T. now the company says that the new model of Kindle will be sold in October . Web retailer said that updates the software to run the Kindle Fire, adding new features for working with e-books, movies, games and music. Also, a new version of the software allows you to share content. Today manufacturer revealed two new e-book reader Kindle. Model for $ 79 got a touch screen, as well as double the storage space, while the model Kindle Voyage $ 199 received high-resolution display and became the thinnest in the line of the company.

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Published 9:49 AM by

Apple in mid-October, shows the new iPad

Apple in mid-October, shows the new iPad



Apple in mid-October, will introduce a new generation of its Internet tablet iPad. Sources in the company say that the original presentation of the new iPad Air and iPad Mini is expected later, but the company's management insisted to release gadgets in October and by the end of the year they are sold freely throughout the world. Today, tablets are the second best-selling Apple product After smartphones, while in the last two quarters of revenue from sales of iPad has been steadily declining as consumers on the one hand are waiting for the new models, but on the other - on the market considerably tightened competition and domination of iPad is not so obvious. 

Recall that last week Apple presented the iPhone 6 as well as the tablet-like model of iPhone 6 Plus, which will go on sale tomorrow. Sources at Apple say that now Contractors Apple has already started to build a 9.7-inch models iPad, and very soon they will begin to collect and New iPad Mini. In parallel with this, they are preparing to start manufacturing iPad with increased 12.9-inch screen. The latter should start selling in the first quarter of 2015. Today there were reports that the company postpones release of its new software HealthKit due to errors found in it. 

Recall that HealthKit is a system of fitness and health monitoring integrated with the iPhone 6, Apple Watch and other products of the company. "We found a bug that does not allow us to make HealthKit available in the first assembly of iOS 8" - said Trudy Miller, spokesman for the Apple. She was not informed about the nature of the error, but said HealthKit will be released as a separate package at the end of September.
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Published 9:40 AM by

In a distant supernova, scientists unexpectedly found a companion star

In a distant supernova, scientists unexpectedly found a companion star



With the help of a telescope "Hubble" NASA scientists were able to detect the companion in a distant supernova SN 1993J. This supernew of type IIb, during which the explosion space in emitted much less hydrogen than in the case of the more common types of explosions. And since a considerable number of stars in the universe are composed of double and even triple systems, the scientists immediately suspected that in this area there are other stars. To do this, data of the optical and ultraviolet collected telescope "Hubble", were combined into one picture, which manifested itself and glow of the second star. Second star has strong gravity and stole a huge amount of hydrogen from the body of its exploding companion, then continued to exist as a very hot helium star. 

From the ground to the supernova SN 1993J, in the constellation Ursa Major, about 11 million light-years. Thus, the subject is far beyond the Milky Way, the galaxy M81, also known as Bode's Galaxy. Due to the not so distant, in intergalactic standards, of course, distances, as well as its spectacular appearance with an almost perfect spiral arms, the space object is very popular among fans of astronomers around the world. This finding confirms the long-held belief that the supernova SN 1993J comes from inside the binary system. Dual system includes two stars, interacting with each other, resulting in a cosmic explosion. 

"It's like a crime scene, and we finally identified the perpetrator," said Alex Filippenko, professor of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley. "The companion star" stole "a large amount of hydrogen surrounding the starburst-neighbor." Combining data from optical radiation and ultraviolet light from Hubble, the team was the spectrum that is consistent with the predicted luminescence of the companion star. Only recently, scientists were able to detect this radiation, known as emission continuum. These new findings will help astronomers understand the mechanisms of different types of supernova.
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Published 9:34 AM by

New defense mechanism Windows 8.1 can be hacked - experts

New defense mechanism Windows 8.1 can be hacked - experts

The next generation of Microsoft PatchGuard (or Kernel Patch Protection) to protect key components of Windows 8.1 has significant enhancements that prevent hacking attacks. However, the results of the safety analysis conducted by experts from the Research Center Positive Research, suggests a number of weaknesses that allows an attacker to bypass these mechanisms to implement and even completely neutralize the system of protection.

 A study Brand Ermolova and Artem Shishkin, published on the website Positive Technologies, provides several attack scenarios, allow compromise KPP. Potential attacker with sufficient qualifications, can write a driver that will selectively apply one or more of the techniques and thus completely blocking mechanisms KPP, allowing you to make modifications to the structures and unimpeded kernel code. In his work, experts note that PatchGuard is nevertheless very promising tool for the protection and laid him in mechanisms contribute significantly to the stability of the system.

 Also stresses that innovations of this instrument are demanding more skill the attacker to determine workarounds: the development of KPP elements were used obfuscation using macros and other anti-debugging techniques prevent the reconstruction code, and also introduced technology virtually eliminates static analysis.
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Published 8:34 AM by

Apple tightens security in iCloud

Apple tightens security in iCloud



Apple improves the security of its data storage service iCloud. Previously CEO Tim Cook has vowed to improve the authentication system after a series of scandals related to the photo on the iCloud.

Since yesterday, the company has reactivated two-factor authentication system for iCloud. Recall that initially the system was launched in June, but soon after it has been disabled.

Since March 2013 Apple has implemented two-factor authentication for Apple ID, which improved security for iTunes and App Store.

We also recall that last week Apple announced lower prices for cloud storage service iCloud, as well as introduced a new tariff plan with a 1 terabyte of disk space. At the same time, the price decline was not as significant as many expected and as previously done in the face of rivals Google and Dropbox.

According to the updated price list of the company, now a cloud storage system iCloud provides 5 GB of space for free, 20GB for $ 1 per month, 200 GB for $ 4 per month, 500 GB for $ 10 and 1 terabyte for $ 20 a month.

Price changes on the eve of the launch of iCloud Drive, which will be integrated into the Mac OS X Yosemite and iOS 8. It allows you to work with iCloud directly from the Finder to the operating system. In addition, the system will allow Sharing files between users.
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Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Published 8:25 AM by

Boeing and SpaceX will be engaged in a manned flight to the ISS

Boeing and SpaceX will be engaged in a manned flight to the ISS


Boeing and SpaceX will receive a contract for manned missions the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the first flight is scheduled for 2017, said Tuesday the head of department Charles Bolden. After the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the United States is used for flights the orbit of Russian missiles "Union" and pay the Russian side for each run of 71 million dollars. "We carry out the promise of President Obama's space launches back to the United States and end our dependence on Russian," - said Bolden. 

According to him, the initial cost of the project to develop a manned spacecraft, which will fly to the International Space Station, will be about 6, 8 billion dollars. Both companies will use the system on the basis of landers-capsules. Boeing presented its project to the competition spaceship CST-100 and SpaceX - ship design Dragon. Bolden said the United States expects to launch the first independent manned mission to the end of 2017 c Cape Canaveral, Florida. 

Head of commercial manned NASA Liders Kathy explained that the contract provides for up to six manned missions to the International Space Station, in each mission will involve four astronauts. Due to the new ship the scientific potential of the ISS should increase by about half, calculated at NASA. "In addition, it can serve as a rescue capsule space station for up to 210 days," - said Liders. After the United States imposed sanctions against Russia because of the annexation of the Crimea and the events surrounding the Ukraine, they made ​​an exception for those projects in which interested themselves, in particular for the ISS.
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Published 7:47 AM by

Panasonic released Lumix camera phone with a giant sensor

Panasonic released Lumix camera phone with a giant sensor


Japanese Panasonic still has not been actively represented in the smartphone market, but the company has been present on the market cameras. Realizing the promise of the first direction, and also aware of their expertise in the second, the company held Photokina trade show in Cologne, Germany introduced a hybrid smartphone and camera. No, it's not a smartphone with a camera. This camera with a smartphone. new device running Android, but has a serious stuffing for photos: 1 inch Leica lens with a 20 megapixel sensor. 

The same set of optics is in the "normal" cameras Panasonic. As described in the company, the new device Lumix DMC-CM1 using the 2.5-inch sensor can shoot HD, Full HD and even 4K-video, and in addition the solution can shoot conditions of very low light. The device will go on sale soon and will cost a record 900 euros. The company said that the first phase of the device will be sold in Germany and France. Analysts say CM1 - a competitor Samsung Galaxy K Zoom, which also has a large built-in lens. Among Panasonic note that CM1 is not only the lens but also metallic rings that control the aperture and shutter speed shot. 

Until now, such a filling in smartphones was not. On the other hand the device has a 11.9-inch touch screen and the selected mode switching button, which quickly turns your smartphone into the camera and vice versa. At Panasonic CM1 called "an interesting experiment", on the other hand, independent experts say that such hybrid devices - it's pretty expensive solution, which is an attempt to chase two rabbits at once. "Hybrids are not satisfied with any. We have seen similar before and nobody nothing good here and not offered. All those who are looking for a good smart phone, buy a device, and those who need a good camera, buy it as a standalone device, "- says Mark Flores from TechRadar.

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Published 7:43 AM by

iPhone 6 Plus has received only 1 GB of RAM

IPhone 6 Plus has received only 1 GB of RAM



According to the publication MacRumors, the new iPhone fablet 6 Plus will receive only a 1 GB of RAM. The same amount of memory in the current generation of iPhone 5S and the same amount of RAM will be a standard iPhone 6. Since similar data were made ​​today, and several other publications, such as TechRadar, System Status, and the Guardian. note that fablety Samsung and LG of the last generation have already 3 GB of RAM. Although a direct comparison of iPhone 6 Plus and Android-fabletov would be technically wrong, conceptually oriented fablety to run multiple applications simultaneously and equally meager amount of memory for a high enough price level iPhone 6 Plus is pretty hard to explain.

 MacRumors notes that in the case of iPhone 6 Plus 1 GB of memory looks very modest, but the device internal tests have shown that this GB is sufficient for normal operation with FullHD-resolution, as well as the graphics library metal, which appear in the iOS 8. Moreover publication writes that Apple tested the operation of mobile games like BioShock or Asphalt 8 and they also showed adequate performance on the 1 GB of RAM. note that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus is almost identical to the filling process, in the frequency of the same chip A8, the same amount of RAM but they differ in the batteries, and in Plus-model has a system of optical image stabilization. In addition, the Plus-model system resolution FullHD. Recall that the start of sales of these smartphones is scheduled for Friday, although because of the large amount of pre-orders, many buyers will have to wait up to a month.
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